Mall owner Ellen Heaton, who will work as interim manager until a new manager is hired, said the sale was reached Tuesday for an undisclosed price. Terms of the sale included a reserve price that had to be met through auction.com.

The process to sell the mall began a year ago when Heaton and other partners in the mall began actively engaging a commercial real estate firms. “We interviewed several agents. One of the questions they asked was if we were willing to sell it. We talked about it and decided we were.”

Heaton said the mall was put on auction.com. “We had a reserve. If they didn't meet the reserve we wouldn't have sold it.”

Several bidders, all who had to be certified, put up offers for the mall, but the winning bid went to a group headed by Purnachander Sirikonda, who owns similar properties, Heaton said. “This is not their first rodeo. This will be shopping center number eight. They're going to have commercial real estate agents who get national tenants. They have plans to upgrade the facility.”

After performing due diligence, the sale was completed Tuesday evening. “I'm going to be manager for the interim period,” Heaton said. “If anyone is looking to lease space they can still get in touch with me.”

Heaton and a group of local investors bought the mall in 2007 to save the building. “The recession hit national retailers, some going out of business, some bought each other up.”

Some national chains began cutting square footage. “It just wasn't a good time to buy a mall,” Heaton said. “At first we had to figure out the mall business and contact people to learn the ins and outs.”

The only other alternative was to let the mall go. “To save it,” Heaton said was the reason she and her partners bought it. “To try and get the mall back.”

The new group, she said, has the passion to make the mall work, and has experience with both malls and strip shopping centers.

After her interim stint as manager, Heaton will devote her time to real estate. “I had a full plate, mall manger and doing real estate. The real estate market is picking back up and real estate is my love. I'd really like to see the mall become what is was. I think this is the best thing for the mall, a group that will let the mall become what it was and has the resources to make it what it was.”

Said Heaton: “In the end, I'm going to miss the people. Becker Village Mall has awesome employees. The security team has been very good to me. I'll miss them.”

The new owners, she said, “Are going to be very hands on and will work very hard to make this the jewel that it used to be.”